White House Considers Court Prospects

WASHINGTON--U.S. Circuit Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, of Sacramento, Calif., is the one prospect among Supreme Court candidates who so far has generated little or no opposition among senators of either party, congressional sources said yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department said no decision on the nominee has been made but that Attorney General Edwin Meese III will talk to President Reagan about the matter at the White House today.

The White House, meanwhile, said an announcement would be made today. One administration source, declining to be named publicly, said the announcement likely would be made in the East Room of the White House, with fanfare, rather than in the briefing room as is usually the case.

This official said several guests would likely be invited to the announcement, where Reagan would appear with his selection.

Kennedy was considered by congressional sources as the top candidate for the nomination. But he was not the only possibility.

Sources familiar with a meeting this week between Justice Department officials and conservative groups said some higher-ups in the department prefer U.S. Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, of Washington, D.C., over Kennedy. But Kennedy also reportedly would be backed by department officials.

Ginsburg, on the appellate court for the District of Columbia, is the former chief of the Justice Department's antitrust division. However, some Democrats believe Ginsburg is a conservative ideologue in the mold of Robert H. Bork, whose nomination was turned down by the Senate last Friday, 58-42.

A third prospect is Judge Ralph K. Winter Jr., of New Haven, Conn., serving on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The National Right To Work Committee has written the White House in opposition to Winter, saying he supports compulsory unionism.

Also reported under consideration as a dark horse is David H. Souter, a justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Nobody has reportedly registered opposition to him, but that could be because little is known about Souter.

Senate Republican sources said on Tuesday that no objections were raised to Kennedy by five key Republicans when White House chief of staff Howard H. Baker Jr. brought up his name Monday during a discussion of possible candidates. About half the 13 or 14 names on the list were objected to by at least one of the senators.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, reportedly had Kennedy on his list of recommendations to the White House.

A Senate Democratic source, speaking only on condition he not be named, said Democrats have not found any reason to oppose Kennedy. But this source, and sources from liberal groups that opposed Bork, made clear that they have not fully researched Kennedy's record.

Kennedy, 51, has been a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1975. He is known to the Californians who are close advisers to the president, including Attorney General Edwin Meese III.

Reagan and Meese backed Kennedy, a 1961 graduate of Harvard Law School, when President Gerald R. Ford nominated him for the appeals court in 1975.

On the bench, Kennedy is best known for his decision, later upheld by the Supreme Court, that the legislative veto is unconstitutional. He also overturned a controversial lower-court ruling finding that female workers in Washington state were entitled to be paid based on the "comparable worth" of their positions.